“Intergenerational healing”
A piece I did in honour of indigenous peoples history month. In our history and blood there’s a lot of trauma stored, spanning generations long, honestly it’s very dark to look back on. I feel that’s what a majority of us focus on, our trauma and how it affects us, no one talks of healing from all of it.
My great grandmother is a residential school survivor. When she was young she had long hair to her ankles. Until she was sent to school, they cut her hair to her ears, and washed her hair with coal oil. She never grew it back since. I consider my hair hers and cherish it.
I’m very lucky to be born in a safer time. I’m the first generation to live unbothered by the threat of residential schools, day schools, forced separation, etc. This is meant to represent not only me and her, but other survivors of residential schools, and their descendants. While I got to go to school with a playground my great grandmother had a school graveyard.
Our history isn’t that long ago and us indigenous people we need to work on healing. For ourselves and our future generations to have a better life. Although our history is dark we still have a beautiful life to fight for.
